Jews pay homage to Holocaust martyrs

As the world rejoiced the death of Osama bin Laden on Monday, it was a day of despair for more than 13 million Jews across the world, as they observed the 66th anniversary of the Holocaust martyrs.

“Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War, and over the years, their identities have been replaced with numbers,” said Orna Sagiv, consul general of Israel, at a memorial service organised on the occasion of the ‘Holocaust Memorial Day,’ by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

“The Holocaust is significant to me at a very personal level, since my grandmother survived the horror and was there to tell me about the torture meted out to her by the Nazis,” said Sagiv. “The pain and agony have left permanent scars,” Sagiv added.

“It is important to note that while the Jews were specific victims of the Holocaust, the implications have been universal,” said German consul general Leopold-Theodor Heldman. “The magnitude of the genocide will never be justified and thus, we, as Germans, will continue to strive for justice of Jews,” he added.